Michael Yuchi——Associate Professor
Nationality:
Canadian

Phone:


Email:
yuchi@tju.edu.cn

Office:
Room 417-6, Building 24, Tianjin University

School:
School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology

ResearcherID:
N-5184-2016

Group weblink

www.yuchilab.com






Education Experience
2003-2009 Ph. D. Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences McMaster University
1999-2003 B.Sc. Life Sciences Fudan University

Professional Experience
2016- Associate Professor Tianjin Univeristy
2010-2016 Research Associate Univeristy of British Columbia
2009-2010 Postdoctoral Fellow Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Research Area
The research of Yuchi’s group centers on the structure and function of ion channels. Ion channels are the second largest target class for approved drugs. Drugs targeting ion channels are used to treat arrhythmia, neuropathic pain, epilepsy, anxiety and more. The ultimate goal of our group is to understand the physiological and pathological roles of ion channels at the molecular level. The specific questions we are tackling include: 1) the interaction network and regulation of ion channels involved in heart and muscle diseases; 2) how disease-causing mutations perturb the structure and function of critical ion channels; 3) how to target insect ion channels to develop novel biopesticides. To answer these questions, our lab combines a variety of complementary techniques, including X-ray crystallography, electrophysiology, calorimetry, in-silico drug screening, as well as many other biochemical, biophysical and computational methods.
For detailed information, check our lab website @ www.yuchilab.com
Channel Regulation at High Resolution

Disease-causing Mutations in Ion Channel



Honors and Awards
Peiyang Scholar 2016
Michael John Page Award 2014
Michael Smith Award 2013

Patents
Yuchi, Z., Lin, L, and Liu, C. (2018) A novel protein purification strategy based on calmodulin, 2.9
Ji, J., An, T., Si, Z., and Yuchi, Z. (2017) A highly effective method for tissue culture of lily flowers, 8.7

Highlighted Publications
Ma, R.#, Haji-Ghassemi, O.#, Ma, D.#, Jiang, H.#, Lin, L., Yao, L., Samurkas, A., Li, Y., Wang, Y., Cao, P., Wu, S., Zhang, Y., Murayama, T., Moussian, B., Van Petegem, F.*,Yuchi, Z.* (2020) Structural Basis for Diamide Modulation of Ryanodine Receptor. Nature Chemical Biology, /doi.org/10.1038/s41589-020-0627-5
Zhou, Y.#, Wang, W.#, Salauddin, N., You, M.,You, S.*,Yuchi, Z.* (2020) Crystal structure of the N-terminal domain of ryanodine receptor from the honeybee, Apis mellifera. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2020.103454.
Liu, J.#, Wei, Y., Lin, L., Teng, L., Yin, J., Lu, Q., Chen, J., Zheng, Y., Li, Y., Xu, R., Zhai, W., Liu, Y., Liu, Y., Cao, P., Ang, E., Zhao, H.*, Yuchi, Z.*,Zhang, Y.*(2020) Two radical-dependent mechanisms for anaerobic degradation of the globally abundant organosulfur compound dihydroxypropanesulfonate. Proc.Nati.Acad. Sci., doi.org/10.1073/pnas..
Samurkas, A., Fan, X., Ma, D., Sundarraj, R., Lin, L., Yao, L., Ma, R., Jiang, H., Cao, P., Gao, Q., and Yuchi, Z. (2020) Discovery of potential species-specific green insecticides targeting lepidopteran ryanodine receptor. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c01063.
You, M.*, Ke,F.#, You,S.#, Wu, Z.#, Liu, Q.#, He, W.#, Baxter, S.#, Yuchi, Z.#, Vasseur, L.*, Gurr, G.*, Ward, C., Cerda, H., Yang, G., Peng, L., Jin, Y., Xie, M., Cai, L., Douglas, C., Isman, M., Goettel, M., Song, Q., Fan, Q., Wang-Pruski, G., Lees, D., Yue, Z.*, Bai, J., Liu, Y., Lin, L., Zheng, Y., Zeng, Z., Lin, S., Wang, Y., Zhao,Q., Xia, X., Chen, W., Chen, L., Zou, M., Liao, J., Gao, Q., Fang, X., Yin, Y., Yang, H., Wang, J., Han, L., Lin, Y., Lu, Y., and Zhuang, M. (2020) Variation among 532 genomes unveils the origin and evolutionary history of a global insect herbivore. Nature Communications, doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16178-9
Xu., T., and Yuchi, Z. (2019) Crystal structure of diamondback moth ryanodine receptor Repeat34 domain reveals insect-specific phosphorylation sites. BMC Biology, doi: 10.1186/s12915-019-0698-5
Lin, L., Hao, Z., Cao, P, and Yuchi, Z. Homology modeling and docking study of diamondback moth ryanodine receptor reveals the mechanisms for channel activation, insecticide binding and resistance. Pest Management Science, doi: 10.1002/ps.5640
Haji-Ghassemi, O., Yuchi, Z., and Van Petegem, F. (2019) The Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor Phosphorylation Hot Spot Embraces PKA in a Phosphorylation-Dependent Manner. Molecular Cell., pii: S1097-2765(19)30311-9
Xing, M., Wei, Y., Zhou, Y., Zhang, J., Lin, L., Hu, Y., Hua, G., Nanja, A., Liu, D., Wang, F., Guo, C., Tong, Y., Li, M., Liu, Y., Ang, EL., Zhao, H.*, Yuchi, Z.*, and Zhang, Y.* (2019) Radical-mediated C-S bond cleavage in C2 sulfonate degradation by anaerobic bacteria. Nature Communications., 10:1609
Lin, L., Liu, C., Nayak, BC., He, W., You, M.*, and Yuchi, Z*. (2018) A two-step purification strategy using calmodulin as an affinity tag. J Chromatogr A., 1544, 16-22
Lin, L., Liu, C., Qin, J., Wang, J., Dong, S., Chen, W., He, W., Gao, Q., You, M.*, and Yuchi, Z.* (2018) Crystal structure of ryanodine receptor N-terminal domain from Plutella xylostella reveals two potential species-specific insecticide-targeting sites. Insect Biochem Mol Biol, 92, 73-83
Yuchi, Z., Wong King Yuen, S.M., Lau, K., Underhill, A., Cornea, R., Fessenden, J.D., and Van Petegem, F. (2015) Crystal structures of Ryanodine Receptor SPRY1 and tandem-repeat domains reveal a critical FKBP12 binding determinant. Nature Communications 6:7947 doi: 10.1038/ncomms8947

ResearcherID Publications
Year Title Author(s) Source Volume
2018 A two-step purification strategy using calmodulin as an affinity tag Lin, Lianyun; Liu, Chen; Nayak, Bidhan Chandra; et al. Journal of chromatography. A
2018 Pathogenic mechanism of a catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia causing-mutation in cardiac calcium release channel RyR2 Xiong, Jing; Liu, Xijun; Gong, Yunyun; et al. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology 117
2017 Crystal structure of ryanodine receptor N-terminal domain from Plutella xylostella reveals two potential species-specific insecticide-targeting sites Lin, Lianyun; Liu, Chen; Qin, Juan; et al. Insect biochemistry and molecular biology 92
2017 The clinical and genetic spectrum of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia: findings from an international multicentre registry Roston, Thomas M.; Yuchi, Zhiguang; Kannankeril, Prince J.; et al. Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology
2016 Ryanodine receptors under the magnifying lens: Insights and limitations of cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography studies Yuchi, Zhiguang; Van Petegem, Filip Cell Calcium
2015 Crystal structures of ryanodine receptor SPRY1 and tandem-repeat domains reveal a critical FKBP12 binding determinant Yuchi, Zhiguang; Yuen, Siobhan M. Wong King; Lau, Kelvin; et al. Nature Communications 6
2015 De Novo Mutation in the SCN5A Gene Associated with Brugada Syndrome Wang, Lumin; Meng, Xiangyun; Yuchi, Zhiguang; et al. Cellular physiology and biochemistry : international journal of experimental cellular physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology 36
2013 Structural Insights Into Disease Mutations of the Ryanodine Receptor Zhiguang Yuchi, Lynn Kimlicka; Van Petegem, Filip Genetic Disorders
2013 The cardiac ryanodine receptor N-terminal region contains an anion binding site that is targeted by disease mutations Kimlicka, Lynn; Tung, Ching-Chieh; Carlsson, Anna-Carin Cecilia; et al. Structure 21
2012 Disease mutations in the ryanodine receptor central region: crystal structures of a phosphorylation hot spot domain Yuchi, Zhiguang; Lau, Kelvin; Van Petegem, Filip Structure 20